The Powers Return, And So Does She!
by Yuyake Kaminari
Summary: Ichigo was depressed, agrravated,and all because of two things. he missed his best friend, and he missed protecing her with his life... Ok, this story takes place 1 1/2 years after Ichigo sacrifices his powers to save the world
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Ok, here is a story that just seemed to pop into my head, and I decided to roll with it. Takes place 1 ½ years after Ichigo lost his powers. R&R please**

"Grrr!" Ichigo yelled, flipping his desk and running out of the class room. _'I can't stand it anymore! It's been a year and a half and I can't stand it!' _Ichigo screamed in his head, sending death glares to all teachers who tried to stop them. The students stayed in their classes, to stunned to comprehend what had just happened. Ichigo walked out of school, fists clenched, and a glare so deadly that people who looked at it ran away, scared for their lives. _'I need to get some fresh air, that's all. I haven't been out of class during the day like this since- oh, right, since that damned war!' _Ichigo thought, walking through woods. He stopped at one tree in particular, set his bag down, and climbed it, sitting on a large branch, his left leg dangling over. He had his back to the rough bark, but it didn't bother him. The only thing on his mind was how to fix this, how to get his powers and _Her _back, without having to deal with _Them _again. A howling noise ripped him from his thoughts, his amber eyes turning to the source, a hollow. '_Wait a hollow? That means- yes! My powers are comi- shit!' _Ichigo thought, narrowly dodding a swipe from the monster. He dodged again, this time sending a kick dead-center to the thing's mask, effectively cracking it, but nothing else. He was smashed against a tree as the thing whacked him with the back of it's hand. _'Ichigo, get up! Get up, Dammit!' _a voice rang out through his head as he started to black out. He felt blood running down his face, and a numbness that was soon taking over his entire body.

"Ichigo!" he heard a voice, but could do nothing about it, as his eyes started to shut, himself slowly losing consciousness. He saw a blur of black as a figure sliced through the hollow, finishing Ichigo's job. He slipped into unconsciousness before anything else could happen, his body going completely numb.

"Who are you!" Ishida yelled, running at the figure dressed in black. It grabbed hold of Ichigo without turning to Ishida, and disappeared, leaving a very confused Quincy to grab Ichigo's stuff.

"Ishida! What happened?" Chad yelled, charging towards the scene, followed closely by Orihime.

"I, I don't know. I sensed Ichigo's power flare up, so I came charging, and when I got here, a figure dressed in black had defeated a hollow, and was standing there, watching Ichigo as blood ran down his face. I couldn't see who it was, because before I got to them, it grabbed Ichigo and disappeared," Ishida explained, recalling the whole event that he had seen.

"We need to tell the-" Inoue started, but was stopped by Ishida.

"No, we can't, for I fear that this figure is of another race, like the Vizards, or the Shinigami, we must wait till the time is right, and we take it down and save our friend," Ishida explained, a fierce look of determination in his eyes, one that matched Ichigo's when trying to save Rukia. " We do, however, have to tell his father, for he should know as to why his son is absent from the household." Ishida grabbed his friend's schoolbag, and walked off, followed by Chad and Orihime.

_With Ichigo_

"Mr. Kurosaki!" a figure cloaked in all black yelled, appearing inside the small clinic, carrying Ichigo's body. Isshin came running, seeming as when ever somebody yelled like that, it was usually an emergency.

"Yes, what- Ichigo!" Isshin yelled, grabbing his son from the short(Hint hint) figure. "What happened to him! What did you do to him?" Isshin yelled, causing the figure to jump at the anger in his voice.

"Mr. Kurosaki, he was attacked by a hollow, and when I got there, he was slammed into a tree and about to be devoured by the creature. I stopped the hollow but I didn't have enough time as to heal him on the spot, I'm sorry, please just help him," the figure said, desperation filling it's voice. Isshin looked shocked. _'Is it her? No, it can't be, she abandoned Ichigo, left for Soul Society, but who is it? The voice sounds so much like her, though,' _Isshin thought, as he held his son. He quickly ran over to one of the beds and placed his son down.

"Shinigami, remove your cloak's hood so you can see properly," Isshin ordered, hoping to get a glance of who it was. The figure hesitated at first, but pulled down the hood, revealing a raven-haired girl with violet eyes. "Rukia! I'll talk to you later, but get me an IV drip asap!" Isshin watched as instead of doing as told, Rukia leaned over Ichigo, placing a hand on his head, sending Spiritual power to the wound in order to stop the bleeding and damage. "Rukia, what the hell are you doing here?" Isshin questioned, seeing her eyes sadden.

"I was sent to monitor Ichigo, and also to defeat any hollows in the area. I was ordered not to make any contact with anybody I knew, however, when Ichigo was attacked by the hollow…." Rukia drifted of, tears forming in her eyes.

"Rukia, I thought you said you were here to monitor my son?" Isshin asked, knitting his brows in confusion as to why if her mission was to monitor his son, how did she let this happen.

"I had to go kill a hollow, so I left for a moment. After I defeated that hollow, I got paged about another one and ran off to it. However, when I got their…." Rukia stopped her explanation as tears fell from her face to the floor. She turned her face down in shame, thinking she failed Ichigo. She felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up with her big violet eyes to see it was Isshin's.

"It's ok, you were doing your duty, however, what I don't get is why a hollow would target Ichigo, or why he ran off from class like that," Isshin said, drifting off into a deep thought.

"We can explain that one, Kurosaki-san," Ishida said, as he walked in carrying Ichigo's bag. "Rukia, I thought it was you who helped Kurosaki. Why are you back? When you left, Ichigo went into a deep depressive state. No, it wasn't from losing his powers. It was from losing his best friend, the only person Ichigo could be open with, happy to be around, he didn't have to put up a mask around you, and when you left, that Ichigo shattered. Which is why he broke down in class today, flipped his desk, and stormed out of school. He wanted his friend back, and when he found out he couldn't get you back, he wanted his powers so he could at least visit you once in a while," Ishida said, anger and annoyance clear in his voice. Rukia cryed even harder after that, which ended in the Quincy being punched in the face by Isshin, who was angered at how the Quincy treated Rukia.

"Leave, now. Rukia did nothing wrong, she couldn't come back because of the orders from the council and the captains, she has nowhere to be of blame in this," Isshin growled out, watching as the Quincy glared and walked out, not saying a word. Isshin reached over to Rukia, placing his hand on her shoulder yet again. "Rukia, it's ok. He's just mad because he hates seeing his friend in that state. You don't have to cry," Isshin tried comforting the girl, but to no avail.

"R-Rukia?" Ichigo's voice came out from beside them, sounding weak and confused.

"Ichigo, I'm sorry!" the raven-haired girl yelled, hugging Ichigo. "I'm sorry I left, I'm sorry I never visited, but I was under orders not too! I swear, I wish thousands of times when you were depressed, I wish I could appear and just make you feel better, but I couldn't!" Rukia cried harder, ignoring Ichigo's voice.

"Rukia, listen, it's not your fault, you can't blame yourself. But haven't you noticed anything weird about this situation? Ichigo questioned, successfully causing Rukia to stop crying and think. She looked up at his smile, and realized it all. His powers were coming back. His powers were coming back! Rukia hugged even tighter, not realizing that Ichigo was turning a deadly shade of blue. "Shorty, let go, I can't breath!" Ichigo struggled out, taking in a deep breath when Rukia loosened her grip. Rukia looked up again, showing a true, rare smile that she had always reserved for Ichigo, and Ichigo did the same, showing a smile not seen since his mother was alive. He ignored the pain in his body, enjoying his moment of happiness.

"Umm, you two, you have company," Isshin said, gesturing to Orhime and Chad, who standing in the doorway of the clinic, watching as the true Ichigo returned, and they smiled.

"Kuchiki-san! You're back!" Inoue exclaimed, happy that the transfer student was back. Chad flinched at Inoue's yelling, while Ichigo tried to get out of his hospital bed, only to be pushed back down by Rukia.

"Oh no. You're staying in that bed until your father says otherwise, understand?" Rukia asked in a sickly sweet tone, causing everybody to sweat drop.

"Alright, being that I'm the docter here, I'm ordering everybody out so that Ichigo can rest, understood?" Isshin said, watching as all three kids nodded. Inoue and Chad left quickly, while Isshin waited patiently for Rukia. Ichigo had fallen back asleep, and Rukia watched her best friend and how peaceful he looked. She leaned over, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and disappeared before the newly formed bush on her cheeks could be seen.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Ok, so this chapter was quite a bit harder to write. I hope you enjoy, however I know this chapter is worse than the first. Anyways, thank you to all the people who have reviewed for this story. Please keep the reviews coming, and I hope you enjoy. There may be a bit more fluff in this chapter, though.**

"Rukia Kuchiki, what do you have to say for yourself? You disobeyed direct orders of Captain Yamamoto, and you contacted the Quincy and 2 of the Kurosaki's of Karakura town when you were specifically told not to reveal yourself," Captain Ukitake scolded his subordinate. Rukia sighed, looking down in shame.

"I'm sorry, Captain Ukitake, I had to. If I hadn't, Ichigo Kurosaki would've been killed by a hollow, and I understood that my orders were to protect and monitor Ichigo, and to also kill any hollows in the area," Rukia said, not once looking up. She heard Ukitake sigh, before he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Good job, Rukia, you followed mission orders, however, now that Ichigo and co. know that you are on a mission in Karakura town, we must figure a plan out to have you continue," Ukitake said, coughing up a bit of blood.

"I think I know of an idea. I could use a gigai in order to still monitor and protect Ichigo and Karakura town, this way I don't have to try and hide anymore," Rukia said, a glimmer of hope in her violet eyes. Ukitake sighed when he saw this, and just nodded.

"That seems like a well thought out plan. I will have you pick up your gigai from Urahara-san tomorrow morning, and you will start at Karakura high school the same day. I'll talk to Urahara, but I don't have a place for you to stay as of yet," Ukitake said, watching as Rukia tried to hide her smile.

"Arigato, Ukitake-taichou," Rukia said, barely containing her excitement as she ran off in the direction of the door to the living world. _'Ichigo, if what I see in her eyes is true, then you're in for one troublesome life,' _Ukitake thought, returning to his office.

_Class 1-3, the next day._

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime yelled cheerfully as Ichigo walked into class. Everybody stared, in complete and utter shock. Ichigo was smiling, a true and rare smile.

"Good morning Orihime, Ishida, Chad, Tatsuki. How are you guys?" Ichigo asked, not noticing the glare he was receiving from the Quincy.

"Who are you and what did you do to Ichigo?" Tatsuki questioned, wondering what was making her old friend so happy.

"We're fine, how come you didn't meet up with us at our usual spot this morning?" Ishida questioned, not waiting for his friends response to Tatsuki's question. Ichigo scratched the back of his head, still smiling.

"Well, I kind of had to convince my dad to allow me to come to school this morning, after yesterday's incident with the hollow," Ichigo responded, never once frowning or scowling.

"Ichi-" Keigo was cut off from finishing as Ichigo brought his elbow back into his friend's gut.

"Morning Keigo, how are you?" Ichigo asked, a bit too cheerful for his usual attitude. He never got a response as the teacher walked in at the exact moment.

"All right class, sit down, we have a new student today," Ochi-sensei said, gesturing for said student to come in. "I believe Kurosaki-san already knows who she is," Ochi-sensei said, noting how some of the students had knowing looks in their eyes as they recognized Rukia. "Kuchiki-san, could you please sit next to Kurosaki-san as you two already know each other." Rukia just nodded, walking to Ichigo's row, surprised to see her friend smiling. Ichigo scribbled something and handed it to Rukia as she sat to the right of the orange-haired teen.

_Midget,_

_Good morning, though I thought you were supposed to lay low and not be noticed by anything,_

_Signed, Orange Porcupine_

Rukia read the note, barely containing a snicker at what Ichigo called himself. She wrote on the back and handed the paper back to Ichigo.

_Orange Porcupine,_

_Good morning, and there has been a change of plans since yesterday. I'm still following mission orders, however, I am too be made visible, in order to protect you better, and since you already knew I was here, there was no sense in trying to hide anymore. Sorry I never made contact earlier, but the orders were to hide myself from anybody I knew,_

_Signed, Rukia_

Ichigo grabbed another sheet of paper, oblivious to the teacher's lesson.

_Rukia,_

_I'm glad that you and Soul Society never abandoned me. Even though I was useless, you always stuck by my side. Thank you, and don't mind Ishida, he's just worried about me, and he thought you abandoned us,_

_Ichigo._

Rukia read this and smiled, knowing her best friend never forgot and had also forgiven. But was slightly annoyed when she heard that Ishida would think that she would just abandon her friends. Suddenly, Ichigo and co. heard it, the thing that they never thought they would here as often now. They heard about 20 hollow howls, all at once.

"Ochi-sensei, may I go to the bathroom?" Ichigo asked, watching as Rukia popped a soul candy into her mouth.

"Yes, but be back A.S.A.P." Ochi-sensei said, noting how Ishida, Orihime, and chad all seemed to be worried. "Yes Orihime, you can go to the bathroom, and Chad, Ishida, you may escort her," Ochi-sensei said, noting how it had been a while since Ichigo had to go to the bathroom with them.

_The hall_

"Baka! What do you think you're going to do?" Rukia questioned as they ran. Ichigo looked quite thoughtful for about a minute before responding.

"Simple, I'll be the bait, since my reiatsu's on the rise again, the hollows should come after me, and then you can attack it and kill it in one blow," Ichigo lied, trying to lead Rukia to believe him. _'I'm actually hoping to regain my powers much faster this way,' _Ichigo explained to himself, _'Then I can protect everybody again'._

"Ichigo, don't lie. I know you're trying to regain your powers faster, and I can say it won't wo-" Rukia was cut off as Ichigo used a soul candy, reappearing out of his body, holding his shikai Zengetsu.

"Now, what were you going to say?" Ichigo asked in a cocky voice, watching as his body returned to class. "There seems to be 20 hollows in all. I say we take on the 5 in the southern part of town, letting Chad and them take care of the ones in the northern edge of town, and we then regroup at the western quadrant of town." Rukia just looked on in amazement. The hero of the worlds, who sacrificed his powers for the lives of others, had already regained his power faster than his father had. _'This is why you hold a place in my heart, Ichigo. You are truly one remarkable man and shinigami,' _Rukia smiled, receiving a confusing look from Ichigo. "Rukia move!" Ichigo yelled as a look of worry appeared on his face when he pulled the violet-eyed girl out of the way of a hollow's attack. "Rukia, you ok?" Ichigo asked, clashing with the hollow, attacking vigorously. Rukia just stood there, dumbfounded as she tried to regain a grasp on what had just happened. She quickly shook her head, ridding her thoughts of confusing things. She unsheathed her Zanpakuto, jumping above the hollow which was locked in a battle with Ichigo. She brought down her sword with so much force that after going through the hollow, slammed into the ground creating a crater, kicking up dust everywhere.

"Ichigo, thank you," Rukia said, waiting as the dust cleared.

"It was nothing. Are you sure you're ok? You've been spacing out today," Ichigo said, his eyes filled with concern and worry. Rukia just nodded, before heading off towards another hollow. She didn't even move from her spot before she was stopped. "Rukia, I can't let you do this. I'll do this, but you have to go back to your Gigai, I, I just don't want you to get hurt." Rukia looked into Ichigo's eyes, and her insides just seemed to melt as his amber eyes pierced her violet eyes, a look of pure worry from his eyes.

"I can't do that, and you know it. I have to do my mission, which is to protect and monitor you, along with protecting Karakura town. I promise, that'll be the last time I drift off into thought," Rukia said, trying to make herself believe that. _'What the hell? Does the orange porcupine actually care? And what the hell happened when I looked into his eyes? It felt like, my insides turned to mush,' _Rukia questioned, confused.

"Alright, but if yo-" SLAM! Ichigo was cut off from finishing as a hollow slammed it's arm into his side, causing Ichigo to fly and crash into a tree, breaking it in half. The hollow quickly turned to Rukia, who just stared in shock. It started charging at Rukia, until it heard Ichigo's voice from behind. "Excuse me, I was in the middle of saying something! Getsuga!" Ichigo yelled, standing up, blood pouring down the right side of his face, covering his right eye. He swung his sword, creating a huge blue wave in which disintegrated the hollow upon contact. "As I was saying, as long as you don't drift off anymore," Ichigo finished, collapsing to the ground in a state of temporary comatose.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=To Be Continued-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

**AN: Ok, I know not the best chapter, but I'm having a slight writer's block as of right now. R&R please**


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